Protective garments

ABSTRACT

An aspect of the invention provides a protective garment comprising a pair of arms and a body portion having a vertical split along its length, the body portion further comprising an opening for receiving a user&#39;s head therethrough, wherein at least a part of the protective garment is manufactured from a water repellent material comprising a polyester base and polyurethane coating having a combined weight of 70 to 100 grams per square meter. Another aspect of the invention provides a protective garment comprising a water repellent material comprising a polyester base and polyurethane coating having a combined weight of 70 to 100 grams per square meter. Such a protective garment could include a gown, drape, or bib, for example.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to protective garments and morespecifically a re-usable gown for protecting its wearer during provisionof medical treatment and care.

Activities such as dentistry, surgery and provision of care to the sickand elderly have an inherent risk of transmission of infection throughsaliva, blood, and other bodily fluids. To counter this risk, medicaland care professionals wear personal protective equipment such as gowns,gloves, face masks and eye protection during aerosol generatingprocedures (AGP). Such personal protective equipment is typicallydisposable so as to mitigate the risk of bacterial or viral cells thatmight be harboured by personal protective equipment if it were to bereused. Most countries have strict safety requirements that must beadhered to if personal protective equipment is to be cleaned and reused.In the United Kingdom for example, gowns and trousers, for example,must: i) be capable of decontamination by washing at 60 degrees Celsiusto kill all bacterial and viral cells; ii) be capable of beingchemically decontaminated using chemicals such as bleach, hypochlorousacid and isopropyl alcohol; iii) be water repellent; and iv) be CEmarked (subject to certain exemptions).

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic resulted in critical shortages of personalprotective equipment in hospitals globally. In some cases, personalprotective equipment was re-used between patients thus increasing therisk of virus transmission to both patients and medical professionals.To plug the gap in availability of PPE, businesses across industrysectors re-purposed their staff to manufacture face masks, gowns andrespirators, for example. With limited exceptions, such PPE was intendedto be used once and then disposed. The exponential and then likelymaintained increase in medical waste will have a serious environmentaleffect through increased land fill and pollution from incineration ofpollutant materials.

One important item of PPE is a gown that may be used during surgery oradministration of medical treatment by medical professionals to maintaina barrier between patient and the medical professional's clothes orexposed arms. Gowns may also be worn by family members of patientsduring certain medical procedures, i.e., caesarean, and during visits tothose that are ill or in care.

Prior art gowns comprise a pair of arms each sewn to a body portion thatis completely open at the back. In use, a wearer inserts their arms intorespective arms of the gown and fastens the gown at the back to secureit around their body. Standard gowns are manufactured from animpermeable material or a tightly woven fabric but are not capable ofmeeting the safety requirements set out by the United Kingdom governmentfor re-use.

Prior to surgery, or application of medical treatment or care, a medicalor healthcare professional dons a surgical gown to provide a safe andeffective barrier between the professional and their patient.

Typically, gowns, whether sterile as used during surgery, or non-sterileas used by other healthcare professionals, are intended for single use.The materials chosen for prior art, single use gowns fulfil therequirement of low unit cost and the ability to be sterilised through agamma irradiation sterilisation process, in the case of sterile gowns,for example.

Recyclable gowns exist that comprise a fabric base layer and some formof water-resistant coating. These gowns have a high material weight asmeasured in grams per square meter. This is perceived as necessary toprovide a material that is robust and has the properties necessary topermit repeated washing. Even then, such prior art gowns are notsuitable for surgical use due to not being capable of withstandingautoclaving for re-sterilisation. Furthermore, heavy weight gowns cancause restriction of movement and feel very different to the muchlighter weight single use gowns.

It is against this background that the present invention has arisen.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the invention provides a protective garment comprising apair of arms and a body portion having a vertical split along itslength, the body portion further comprising an opening for receiving auser's head therethrough, wherein at least a part of the protectivegarment is manufactured from a water repellent material comprising apolyester base and polyurethane coating having a combined weight of 70to 100 grams per square meter.

The applicant has identified that a material comprising a polyester baseand polyurethane outer coating is suitable to meet the requirements ofvarious governmental health departments for reusability of PPE. In otherwords, the material is capable of being washed at 60 degrees, can bechemically cleansed, is water repellent and is capable of being CEmarked. Use of such material in a PPE gown advantageously contributes toreducing the number of required gowns for a single site and reduceswaste while still preventing cross-infection between patients andmedical professionals. A weight of 70 to 100 grams per square meter wasselected by the applicant to provide a material that is lightweight,breathable, liquid repellent and doesn't materially restrict motion ofthe wearer while still being able to drop under its own weight and notlift unduly during normal activity. The material is also capable ofbeing repeatedly washed at 60 degrees Celsius and chemically cleansedwithout losing its water-resistant properties. The material can also beautoclaved to enable sterilisation for surgical purposes. Prior artgowns are generally heavier weight per square meter as it is assumedthat this is necessary for such gowns to possess sufficient resilienceto temperature and chemicals so as to make them suitable for re-use. Theapplicant has surprisingly identified that, contrary to accepted logic,a lighter weight gown manufactured from the materials specified hereincan provide the same, if not better, attributes as a heavier weightgown. By way of comparison, many prior art reusable gowns have a weightin excess of 180 grams per square meter. This is a significant increaseon the typical 30 45 grams per square meter of single use gowns that aremanufactured from lightweight non-woven fabrics and polyethylene films.Gowns manufactured according to the present invention thus provide afeel and experience akin to single use gowns and do not materiallyimpede the medical professional.

The polyurethane coating may be applied to the polyester base usingrotary-screen-printing-coating, roll-coating, flow-coating,foam-coating, spray-coating, blade-coating, transfer-coating or acombination thereof and subjecting the coated polyester base to atemperature such that the polyurethane coating is cross-linked to thepolyester base. In some embodiments, the polyurethane coating may beapplied to a temporary substrate such as a paper backing.

The coating techniques listed are conventional techniques for coating abase fabric with an external coating. Advantageously, subjecting thepolyester base to temperature to cross link the polyurethane coating tothe polyester base improves the water repellent properties of thematerial and adhesion between the polyester based and polyurethanecoating. Cross-linking the polyurethane coating to the polyester basemay be achieved by pressing the polyester base and polyurethane coatingtogether at an elevated temperature until the polyurethane coating hascured. The paper backing is then removed to leave a smooth outer finishthat does not contain imperfections that might otherwise retain bacteriaand waste materials.

Each arm of the gown may comprise an elastic cuff

The interface between a medical professional's hands, which should becovered by disposable gloves, and a gown is a potential source ofcross-transmission of infection between patient andmedical-professional. Embodiments of the invention utilise an elasticcuff to provide a good seal between arms of the gown and the disposablegloves worn by the medical professional.

The protective garment may further comprise a fastener for securing thebody portion of the protective garment around a wearer's waist. Thefastener may comprise a tie formed from a pair of cords, each fixed to arespective part of the body portion of the protective garment onopposing sides of the vertical split thereof.

Many prior art gowns utilise adhesives, hook-and-loop fasteners,magnets, buttons and the like to fasten each of the opposing partstogether. These methods of fastening the gown do not create a good sealaround the wearer's midriff Embodiments of the present invention utilisea tie comprising a pair of cords, each cord fixed to a respective partof the body portion. Knotting of the ties pulls the gown tight aroundthe midriff of the wearer and causes the two parts of the gown tooverlap thus creating an effective seal between the wearer'sunderclothes and the gown.

The tie may be offset from the vertical split such that each tie isspaced apart from an edge of the body portion.

Such an arrangement results in the overlap between the two parts of thebody portion. The greater the offset of the cords from an edge of thebody portion, the greater the overlap therebetween.

The fastener may further comprise a hook and loop configuration at anupper end of the vertical split.

Providing a simple to use fastener such as a hook and loop fasteneradjacent to the wearer's neck provides a secondary seal at the rear ofthe gown. Combined with a primary seal provided by the overlaps and tie,this secondary seal provides an additional barrier to bodily fluidscontacting the skin or under clothing of the wearer.

Each arm may be sewn from a piece of material to form a tubularstructure and each arm may be sewn to the body portion, wherein eachseam is sealed. Each edge of the protective garment may be rolled andsealed.

Prior art gowns are typically constructed from a single ply of materialhaving raw edges and seams. Such raw edges and seams are a naturalcollector for bacterial and viral cells and pose a risk for transmissionof infection. By sealing the seams of the protective garment and rollingand sealing the edges, the risk of infection that could be causedthrough re-use of a protective garment is diminished.

The adhesion between the polyester base and polyurethane coating may beat least 1.5 daN/5 cm.

The applicant has identifies that the adhesion between the polyesterbase and polyurethane coating is directly associated with the number oftimes that it can be re-used and its resilience to temperature andchemicals. The applicant has discovered that a water repellent materialhaving good adhesion between layers can be washed repeatedly at 95degrees Celsius without significantly degrading. Furthermore, the waterrepellent material is capable of being autoclaved at 120 degreesrepeatedly without significantly degrading meaning that protectivegarments manufactured from the material can be re-used in a surgical, orother sterile, setting. The adhesion value is enabled by virtue of thebond between the polyester base and polyurethane outer coating. Thisbond is provided by pressing the polyester base and polyurethane coatingat an elevated temperature, as described above, until the polyurethanecoating has cured.

The tensile strength of the water repellent material may be at least 9daN/5 cm. The tear strength of the water repellent material may be atleast 1 daN. The weight of the polyester base may be 30 grams per squaremeter. The weight of the polyurethane coating may be 65 grams per squaremeter.

The foregoing is a summary and thus, may contain simplifications,generalizations, inclusions, and/or omissions of detail. Consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Inaddition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and featuresdescribed hereinabove, further aspects, embodiments, and features willbecome apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects and embodiments of the invention will now be described by way ofreference to the following figures.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a gown according to aspects and embodimentsof the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a back view of a gown according to aspects and embodimentsof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will be more fully understood by reference to thedetailed description in conjunction with the following figures; whereinthe primary object of the present invention is to provide an item of PPEin the form of a gown that is re-usable while preventing cross-infectionbetween patients and medical professionals and care givers, for example.

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of a gown (10) according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. The gown briefly comprises a pair of arms (12,14) and a body portion (16). An opening (18) for a wearer's head isprovided at the top of the body portion (16). Each of the arms (12, 14)is elasticated at their respective cuff (20) for providing a seal aroundthe wearer's wrists.

FIG. 2 is a back view of the gown (10) and shows a vertical split (22)running vertically down the entire length of the back of the gown (10)and a fixing means, i.e., a tie, (24) for fixing both sides of the bodyportion (16) around the body of the wearer. As shown, the tie (24)comprises a pair of cords, one attached to each part of the body portion(16), on opposing sides of the vertical split (22) thereof. In someembodiments, a hook and loop fastener (not shown) provides attachment ofthe two opposing parts of the body portion (16) adjacent to the collar(26) thereof. One part of the hook and the loop is sewn into one of theopposing sides of the vertical split (22) and the other of the hook andthe loop is sewn into the other of the opposing sides of the verticalsplit (22). In some embodiments, the front of the gown (10), as shown inFIG. 1, is longer than the back of the gown (10), as shown in FIG. 2.

Gowns (10) according to embodiments of the invention are manufacturedfrom a material comprising a fabric base and polyurethane (PU) coatinghaving a combined weight of 70 to 100 grams per square meter. In oneembodiment, the fabric base is 100% polyester. In one embodiment, hepolyester base has a weight of 30 grams per square meter and the PUcoating has a weight of 65 grams per square meter making a combinedweight of 95 grams per square meter.

The material is prepared by using a coating process. Examples of coatingprocesses include, but are not limited to,rotary-screen-printing-coating, roll-coating, flow-coating,foam-coating, spray-coating, blade-coating, transfer-coating or acombination thereof to apply the PU coating to the polyester base or toa temporary substrate. In some embodiments, the PU coating is applied toa paper backing. The PU coating may then be laid over the polyester baseand pressed until cured. Once cured, the paper backing is removed toleave a smooth outer surface. Curing occurs by subjecting the PU coatingto increased temperature such that the PU coating is cross-linked to thepolyester base. The adhesion between the polyester base and PU coatingis at least 1.5 daN/5 cm. This provides a breathable and liquidrepellent material that meets the requirements of various governmentalhealth departments.

The PU coated polyester has the following additional properties:

Tensile strength (length and width) >9 daN/5 cm Tear strength (lengthand width) >1 daN Seam resistance (length and width) >6 daN/5 cm %elongation under 30N/5 cm (length) >35% % elongation under 30N5 cm(width) >55% Water vapour permeability  >900 gm²/24 hours

The PU coated polyester is provided by the sheet or on a roll and cut tosize and shape using a standard pattern. Each gown (10) is manufacturedfrom several pieces of material including at least the arms (12, 14) andthe body portion (16). Each of the arms (12, 14) is cut as asubstantially rectangular shape and sewn together along its length toform a tubular structure. Elastic is sewn into the cuff (20) of each arm(12, 14). The body portion (16) is shaped such that a cut-out isprovided for each arm (12, 14) to be attached to. The body portion (16)is folded such that the circular cut-out is positioned substantiallycentral when the gown (10) is viewed from the front. The arms (12, 14)are sewn to the body portion (16). All seams of the gown (10) are sealedto mitigate the risk of bacterial or viral cells taking hold in theseams.

In use, a wearer pulls the gown (10) over their head and inserts itthrough the opening (18). Each of the wearer's arms is inserted into arespective arm (12, 14) of the gown (10). The two parts of the bodyportion (16) are pulled together to close the gown (10) at the rear andthe tie (24) is knotted to secure the gown (10) tightly around thewearer's midriff The hook-and-loop fastener is fastened adjacent to thewearers neck. The wearer's hands are protected by way of disposablegloves and their face is protected by a face mask, or similar.

The present invention is described by way of reference to a gown,whether sterile, or non-sterile. However, a person skilled in the artwill appreciate that the material chosen for such a gown may equally beapplicable to other medical articles such as drapes, caps and bibs. Theprincipal of the invention remains the same, i.e., use of a lightweight,reusable material that is resilient to temperature and chemicals so asto return a used protective garment or article to a clean, non-sterilecondition. Such a protective garment is first washed at a minimum of 60degrees Celsius, for non-sterile protective garments, and preferably at95 degrees Celsius, for sterile protective garments. Protective garmentsaccording to aspects of the invention may be re-sterilized throughautoclaving at 120 degrees Celsius or by using a gamma irradiationsterilisation process, or similar.

Although the present invention has been described by way of reference toa material having a polyester base, it will be appreciated that suchdisclosure is made in the interests of providing one way in which theperson of ordinary skilled in the art could put the invention into use.In some embodiments, the polyester base may be replaced with analternative fabric such as microfibre, nylon, or a blend of differentmaterials, in each case providing such materials have equivalentmaterial properties to those described in connection with the presentinvention.

The above description is for the purpose of teaching the person ofordinary skill in the art how to practice the present invention, and itis not intended to detail all those obvious modification and variationsof which it will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill in theart upon reading this description. It is intended, however, that allsuch obvious modifications and variations be included within the scopeof the present invention, which is defined by the following claims. Theclaims are intended to cover the claimed components and steps in anysequence which is effective to meet the objectives there intended,unless the context specifically indicates to the contrary.

1. A protective garment comprising a pair of arms and a body portionhaving a vertical split along its length, the body portion furthercomprising an opening for receiving a user's head therethrough, whereinat least a part of the protective garment is manufactured from a waterrepellent material comprising a polyester base and polyurethane coatinghaving a combined weight of 70 to 100 grams per square meter.
 2. Aprotective garment according to claim 1, wherein the entirety of thegarment is manufactured from the water repellent material.
 3. Aprotective garment according to claim 1, wherein the water repellentmaterial comprises a 100% polyester base.
 4. A protective garmentaccording to claim 1, wherein the polyurethane coating is applied usingrotary-screen-printing-coating, roll-coating, flow-coating,foam-coating, spray-coating, blade-coating, transfer-coating or acombination thereof and subjecting the coated polyester base to atemperature such that the polyurethane coating is cross-liked to thepolyester base.
 5. A protective garment according to any claim 1,wherein each arm of the protective garment comprises an elastic cuff 6.A protective garment according to any claim 1 further comprising afastener for securing the body portion of the protective garment arounda wearer's waist.
 7. A protective garment according to claim 6, whereinthe fastener comprises a tie formed from a pair of cords, each fixed toa respective part of the body portion of the protective garment onopposing sides of the vertical split thereof.
 8. A protective garmentaccording to claim 7, wherein the fastener further comprises a hook andloop configuration at an upper end of the vertical split.
 9. Aprotective garment according to claim 1 that is configured to bere-used.
 10. A protective garment according to claim 1 wherein each armis sewn from a piece of material to form a tubular structure and eacharm is sewn to the body portion, wherein each seam is sealed.
 11. Aprotective garment according to claim 1 wherein each edge of theprotective garment is rolled and sealed.
 12. A protective garmentaccording to claim 1, wherein the adhesion between the polyester baseand polyurethane coating is at least 1.5 daN/5 cm.
 13. A protectivegarment according to claim 1, wherein the tensile strength of the waterrepellent material is at least 9 daN/5 cm.
 14. A protective garmentaccording to claim 1, wherein the tear strength of the water repellentmaterial is at least 1 daN.
 15. A protective garment according to claim1, wherein the weight of the polyester base is 30 grams per squaremeter.
 16. A protective garment according to claim 1, wherein the weightof the polyurethane coating is 65 grams per square meter.
 17. Aprotective garment comprising a water repellent material comprising apolyester base and polyurethane coating having a combined weight of 70to 100 grams per square meter.